United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County to Expand Support for Families Experiencing Homelessness with $5 Million Grant from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos
December 1, 2025
32 organizations across the U.S. receive a total of $102.5 million from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund to connect families with housing and hope.
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, whose mission is to unite people to create positive lasting change in the community, today announced that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are recognizing the organization with a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund. United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County is part of the eighth annual cohort of organizations across the country receiving funding from the Day 1 Families Fund to deepen their work to help every family have a safe, stable place to call home.
“We are so grateful to the Day 1 Families Fund for this generous grant,” said Amy Lindner, president & CEO for United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “Our community has come together to provide solutions for homelessness for thousands of families throughout our community. This grant will provide continued support to our Safe & Stable Homes initiative for years to come.”
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County will use its Day 1 Families Fund grant to serve families experiencing homelessness in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties, with the goal of ensuring no child in our community sleeps outside. Specifically, United Way plans to use this one-time grant over the next five years to achieve a functional zero level of families in emergency shelter by offering centralized connection to housing resources, flexible financial assistance and wraparound support. The goal is to have the number of people experiencing homelessness be less than the community's monthly capacity to move people into permanent housing, keeping homelessness rare and brief.
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County was identified to receive this grant by a group of national advisors who are leading advocates and bring expertise on homelessness, housing policy and effective approaches and solutions to family homelessness.
“We know that when we work together, change is possible,” said Julie Divjak, vice president of Community Impact for United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “We are proud to be leaders in this work throughout the nation, and proud to offer solutions for families to stay safely in their homes or rapidly access housing when prevention isn’t possible.”
Since its inception in 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund has awarded 280 grants totaling more than $850 million to organizations serving families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. The Day 1 Families Fund grant recipients have tremendous flexibility to use the funds in the ways that are most impactful in their communities, making the grant a game-changer for organizations on the frontlines of the family homelessness crisis. Recipients will use their funds to support families experiencing homelessness to access critical services, regain stable housing and achieve well-being.
This year, the Fund issued a total of $102.5 million in grants to 32 organizations. The full list of awardees is available at https://bezosdayonefund.org/day1familiesfund. Case studies of the impact selected grantees have made with their funds are available at www.bezosdayonefund.org/case-studies.
About the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund
Through the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos issue annual leadership awards to organizations doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.
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